A repeat DUI offender from Texas accused of driving drunk down the wrong side of the Diagonal Highway north of Boulder and seriously injuring two people in an early morning crash last summer pleaded guilty to all seven of his charges Thursday.

Dean Carlson, 56, pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular assault while driving under the influence, both Class 4 felonies, and two counts of vehicular assault, both Class 5 felonies. He also pleaded guilty to DUI, reckless driving and driving down the wrong side of a divided highway, all misdemeanors.

As a condition of his guilty plea, Carlson will not spend more than 15 years in prison. Boulder District Judge Thomas Mulvahill approved the plea deal at Carlson's arraignment Thursday.

One of the victims in the accident, Daniel Mays, 28, is still in critical condition at Denver Health and may not survive his injuries, according to prosecutors.

Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett previously had said his office would look into possibly waiting to press vehicular homicide charges against Carlson if Mays dies. But after talking with the family members of both victims, and with Carlson willing to plead to all charges, Garnett said his office would go with the plea deal n the interest of getting the family closure in the case.

"After consulting with all the family members, we felt it was appropriate to resolve the case, especially with the defendant willing to take full responsibility," Garnett told Mulvahill.

Even if Mays dies before Carlson's Jan. 25 sentencing, by agreeing to the plea deal, prosecutors forfeited the right to file a charge of vehicular homicide, a Class 3 felony.

According to investigators, Carlson was driving north in the southbound lanes of the Diagonal Highway in a rented Chevy HHR around 4 a.m. July 21 near 55th Street when he struck Mays and his girlfriend, Sean Balog, 23, in a black Toyota Yaris heading south.

Balog had just picked up Mays from his job at the IBM campus, and both were headed back to Westminster. Balog was taken to Longmont United Hospital with internal injuries and later released.

Investigators said Carlson recalled having a few drinks at Old Chicago on Pearl Street around 7 p.m. before wandering around Pearl and drinking at various bars until closing time. Carlson told investigators that between the time the bars closed at 2 a.m. and the time of the accident around 4 a.m., he believes he was driving around lost while trying to find his hotel in Westminster.

Carlson has three prior DUI convictions on his record. He was convicted of DUI in 1992 in New York, and in 2005 and 2010 in Texas. He had just gotten his driving privileges back in Texas from his 2010 DUI conviction.

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